Sept. 4, 2008

2008-09 Schedule

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (September 4, 2008) -The Sacred Heart University women's basketball team released their 29-game schedule as the Pioneers get ready for another run at the Northeast Conference Championship in 2008-09. Sacred Heart will serve as the host institution for the opening two rounds of the 2009 NEC Tournament on March 7th and 8th.

The Pioneers are coming back off a 19-11 campaign were they finished third in the NEC standings and earned their ninth-straight NEC Tournament bid. Over the past 13 seasons, the Pioneers have posted at least a .500 record or better under head coach Ed Swanson, a run that has included four 20 win seasons as he closes in on his 300th career victory and becoming the NEC's all-time leader in regular season wins (124).

Sacred Heart has 11 non-conference games scheduled as they prepare for the rigors of an 18-game slate in the NEC. The season gets underway on November 14th as the Pioneers take on the Big 12's University of Kansas followed by a trip to Marquette University on November 17th. SHU last met the Jayhawks in 2004, a 59-48 loss, in the first meeting between the two schools. The Pioneers traveled to Marquette in 2002 for the first-meeting, a 76-49 Golden Eagle victory.

SHU will be back in the Nutmeg State for their meeting with cross-town rival Fairfield University on Saturday, November 22nd in a 1:00 pm matinee at the Arena at Harbor Yard in downtown Bridgeport. The Pioneers will play host to Lehigh in their 2008-09 home opener at the William H. Pitt Center on November 25th in the first of a 14-game home slate. Since its opening in 1997, the Pioneers have won 84% (123-24) of their home games including a perfect 15-0 in 2005-06 and 14-0 in 2003-04.

Sacred Heart will enjoy the comforts of home during this year's holiday season as they play five of seven games during the month in the friendly confines of the Pitt Center. Stony Brook, Rhode Island and Binghamton will all pay visits as well as a pair of NEC opponents in Fairleigh Dickinson and Mount St. Mary's. The Pioneers non-conference schedule will also include road trips to Manhattan of the MAAC and Princeton of the Ivy League as well as a home date with future Northeast Conference member Bryant University in late February.

The Northeast Conference schedule is primed to be as competitive as the Pioneers will play each of the other ten schools in the NEC twice, with the exception of FDU and Wagner who they will play just once. SHU's league opener is ticketed for December 6th at home against the Knights followed by a date with the Mount on December 8th.

Pioneer fans will have to wait until January 5th to see the rematch of last year's NEC Tournament semifinal game with the Monmouth Hawks, who knocked SHU from the playoffs at LIU. SHU will face conference rival Quinnipiac in Hamden on January 26th and at home on February 9th, both 7:00 pm starts.

The first two rounds of this year's NEC Tournament will be played on March 7th and 8th with the championship game slated for March 15th at the site of the highest remaining seed. The Pioneers hosted the first two rounds of the 2002-03 conference tournament.